Legal experts and students from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said on Wednesday that a cross-border internship program will help the city’s future legal professionals understand the Chinese mainland’s judicial system, enabling them to better identify their strengths and serve national needs.
Nearly 40 Hong Kong law students will participate in the program starting Sunday. They will take part in weeklong intensive studies in Beijing, with chances to visit key judicial authorities such as the Committee for the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under the country’s top legislature — the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.
After completing the studies in Beijing, the students will split into groups and attend courts in Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen for a four-week clerkship, engaging directly in trials and other judicial workflows to deepen their practical understanding of the mainland’s legal mechanisms.
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Addressing the program’s launching ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, Liu Chunhua, director-general of the Legal Affairs Department at the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong SAR, urged participants to leverage this practical learning opportunity to strengthen professional competencies, build cross-border legal exchange bridges, and contribute to the future development of Hong Kong and the nation.
He emphasized law as a practice-oriented discipline, encouraging students to observe courtrooms diligently and understand how judicial institutions uphold fairness and long-term stability.
Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok highlighted mutual understanding between the city and the mainland’s legal professionals as fundamental to advancing the rule of law in China.
Lam said that authentic belief in legal systems emerges from direct engagement, urging students to experience the mainland’s developments firsthand to confidently articulate China’s rule of law narrative globally.
He expressed hope that by “traveling 10,000 miles” rather than just “reading 10,000 books”, students could gain a real sense of the mainland’s rule of law and judicial operations, believing that the experience can help them become legal professionals with a national perspective and a global outlook.
Joey Chan Sze-chai, a law student from the University of Hong Kong, said she feels excited about beginning her internship at the Shanghai Maritime Court, describing the experience as not only a valuable learning opportunity, but also an exploration across legal systems and cultures.
Chan said she is curious about every aspect of the upcoming internship, noting that as a student with a common law background, she is particularly eager to observe how smart courts on the mainland leverage technology to improve judicial efficiency, learn about mechanisms for cross-border legal cooperation, and explore the role of common law in such settings.
Chan said her responsibility as an emerging legal professional includes considering how to bring innovative practices from mainland courts back to the city, while aspiring to serve as a conduit connecting the nation’s legal community with global counterparts.
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The program was initiated by the Hong Kong and Mainland Legal Profession Association, and supported by the central government and the Hong Kong SAR government.
The association’s president Nicholas Chan Hiu-fung described the clerkship program as a pivotal platform for Hong Kong students to witness the principles of “one country, two systems” in practice, hoping they can contribute to the development of both the nation and the city.
Johnson Lam Man-hon, a permanent judge of Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal, said the city’s unique position leveraging common law traditions alongside ties with the mainland, underscore shared rule-of-law values that benefit societal integration.
Contact the writer at stephyzhang@chinadailyhk.com
